RobertScorpio
Pariah
STAR TREK
PHASE-TWO
The Voyage Home
XI
Mokara’s motionless body was at Marilina’s feet. She, at the young age of a child, was now a murderer. It was as if somehow, someway, her mind acted on her own. She looked down at the mother Pachan, as her five pups nursed upon her, just feet from Mokara’s dead body. And at that instant, as Marilina and the animal looked at each other, Marilina understood what had happened. The animal had taken control of her mind, and in so doing, the actions of her body, and had killed Mokara. She stepped back, still sharing a glance with the animal. Suddenly she felt two arms come around her.
Marilina looked up at the adult who she had backed into at the entrance of the small alcove inside the cave. It was none other than Enucien, the elder who had, for the several decades, given the opening speech at the yearly hunt.
“Young child,” Enucien said to her, “do not be afraid.”
“I have killed another,” Marilina said, “I am a criminal.”
“No, you are not.” Enucien said. “You are a visitor to our world, so you can not be considered to be a criminal.”
Uhura realized that Enucien was talking, not to the girl, but to her, Uhura, through thoughts. Uhura, in the form of the child Marilina, surrounded by the coldness of the cave, looked up to Enucien.
“You are talking to me,” Uhura said. “How is this possible?”
“My child,” Enucien said to her, “what you have just witnessed did indeed transpire long before your arrival to this world. Ever so often, and it is very rare, a child will be born with a special gift. The gift is an innate ability to telepathically communicate, and even control the actions of a Pachan, and have their minds controlled by the Pachan as well. The Emarians themselves evolved from a common ancestor to both, which may explain this rare anomaly.”
“What happened to the girl?” Uhura, in the form of Marilina, asked.
“She was found, right here in this cave, by the elder I am in the form in, holding the bloodied K’aloot. And because this happened at a time when the Emarian customs were more pronounced, she was accused and then, later, convicted of the crime, and was, as the law provided, burned at the stake.”
Suddenly the cave around Marilina disappeared. Marilina still remained, but the surroundings changed. She was nearly a year older, near the age of nine years old, naked, and was tied to a large wooden totem. Her parents were among the cheering throng, throwing small rocks at Marilina in disdain for what she had done.
She, Marilina/Uhura, could see the hatred in her parent’s eyes. And then Marilina began to feel the first spears of pain. She looked down at her naked feet, which were reddened as the fire, which was creeping up the stacked column of wood and hay, was getting higher and higher, and closer to her.
Enucien was there as well. He had given the final words, condemning her for what she had done. He was the one, upon finishing his reading of the last words, lit the torch, and upon dropping it, lit the column of wood and other material that was now burning up towards Marilina.
For a child not to kill a Pachan, as all Emarians do, was bad enough. But to kill another Emarian, while trying to protect the slaughter of a Pachan, was out right murder. And the punishment, being burned by the stake, had been passed down from the olden times. Euncien, having completed the last words, looked to Marilina/Uhura, and spoke outside the events directly to her.
“This was the common fate that those who were able to communicate with the Pachan would face,” Enucien said to her, “being burned at the stake; and is still administered to this day. But in the modern times, the time in which you are visiting Emaria, an entire industry has grown up around the festival. And now it goes on all year long. The festival is the yearly beginning to the Pachan fighting season. This is where the animals are forced to fight to the death. And those who claim to be able to communicate with the Pachan, and are trying to prove they are sentient beings, are defamed, or even outright jailed, even burned at the stake, for suggesting an end to what has become the very back bone to Emarian culture; the exploitation of the Pachan. This is an aspect to our world our leaders will never show you.”
“What do you want from me?” Marilina asked as the fire came closer to her feet. “We are just visitors to your world.
“On the outskirts of the main city you are in,” Euncien said to her, “there is a mountain range to the north. There is a herd of Pachan located there. All I ask is that, as you leave our world, you take two of us with you, one male and one female. Our numbers on Emaria are very low now. The Pachan will be extinct in the coming years; this is the last chance we have to ensure that the Pachan will survive into the future.”
“How is it we are communicating?” Marilina/Uhura asked, “if Marilina is dead?”
Then, suddenly, it was over.
--
At that moment, Uhura was shocked out of her contact with the Pachan, just in time to see
READER; Please continue the story by following the link >>>>>>>>>>>> engage
PHASE-TWO
The Voyage Home
XI
Mokara’s motionless body was at Marilina’s feet. She, at the young age of a child, was now a murderer. It was as if somehow, someway, her mind acted on her own. She looked down at the mother Pachan, as her five pups nursed upon her, just feet from Mokara’s dead body. And at that instant, as Marilina and the animal looked at each other, Marilina understood what had happened. The animal had taken control of her mind, and in so doing, the actions of her body, and had killed Mokara. She stepped back, still sharing a glance with the animal. Suddenly she felt two arms come around her.
Marilina looked up at the adult who she had backed into at the entrance of the small alcove inside the cave. It was none other than Enucien, the elder who had, for the several decades, given the opening speech at the yearly hunt.
“Young child,” Enucien said to her, “do not be afraid.”
“I have killed another,” Marilina said, “I am a criminal.”
“No, you are not.” Enucien said. “You are a visitor to our world, so you can not be considered to be a criminal.”
Uhura realized that Enucien was talking, not to the girl, but to her, Uhura, through thoughts. Uhura, in the form of the child Marilina, surrounded by the coldness of the cave, looked up to Enucien.
“You are talking to me,” Uhura said. “How is this possible?”
“My child,” Enucien said to her, “what you have just witnessed did indeed transpire long before your arrival to this world. Ever so often, and it is very rare, a child will be born with a special gift. The gift is an innate ability to telepathically communicate, and even control the actions of a Pachan, and have their minds controlled by the Pachan as well. The Emarians themselves evolved from a common ancestor to both, which may explain this rare anomaly.”
“What happened to the girl?” Uhura, in the form of Marilina, asked.
“She was found, right here in this cave, by the elder I am in the form in, holding the bloodied K’aloot. And because this happened at a time when the Emarian customs were more pronounced, she was accused and then, later, convicted of the crime, and was, as the law provided, burned at the stake.”
Suddenly the cave around Marilina disappeared. Marilina still remained, but the surroundings changed. She was nearly a year older, near the age of nine years old, naked, and was tied to a large wooden totem. Her parents were among the cheering throng, throwing small rocks at Marilina in disdain for what she had done.
She, Marilina/Uhura, could see the hatred in her parent’s eyes. And then Marilina began to feel the first spears of pain. She looked down at her naked feet, which were reddened as the fire, which was creeping up the stacked column of wood and hay, was getting higher and higher, and closer to her.
Enucien was there as well. He had given the final words, condemning her for what she had done. He was the one, upon finishing his reading of the last words, lit the torch, and upon dropping it, lit the column of wood and other material that was now burning up towards Marilina.
For a child not to kill a Pachan, as all Emarians do, was bad enough. But to kill another Emarian, while trying to protect the slaughter of a Pachan, was out right murder. And the punishment, being burned by the stake, had been passed down from the olden times. Euncien, having completed the last words, looked to Marilina/Uhura, and spoke outside the events directly to her.
“This was the common fate that those who were able to communicate with the Pachan would face,” Enucien said to her, “being burned at the stake; and is still administered to this day. But in the modern times, the time in which you are visiting Emaria, an entire industry has grown up around the festival. And now it goes on all year long. The festival is the yearly beginning to the Pachan fighting season. This is where the animals are forced to fight to the death. And those who claim to be able to communicate with the Pachan, and are trying to prove they are sentient beings, are defamed, or even outright jailed, even burned at the stake, for suggesting an end to what has become the very back bone to Emarian culture; the exploitation of the Pachan. This is an aspect to our world our leaders will never show you.”
“What do you want from me?” Marilina asked as the fire came closer to her feet. “We are just visitors to your world.
“On the outskirts of the main city you are in,” Euncien said to her, “there is a mountain range to the north. There is a herd of Pachan located there. All I ask is that, as you leave our world, you take two of us with you, one male and one female. Our numbers on Emaria are very low now. The Pachan will be extinct in the coming years; this is the last chance we have to ensure that the Pachan will survive into the future.”
“How is it we are communicating?” Marilina/Uhura asked, “if Marilina is dead?”
Then, suddenly, it was over.
--
At that moment, Uhura was shocked out of her contact with the Pachan, just in time to see
READER; Please continue the story by following the link >>>>>>>>>>>> engage
